More countries are wary of DeepSeek's AI applications

On February 5, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea said they had blocked access to a low-cost chatbot application using artificial intelligence (AI) from Chinese startup DeepSeek due to concerns about the risk of collecting user data.

Access to DeepSeek's chatbot was restricted on computers in the two ministries connected to external networks, as the two ministries are among the key government agencies that handle important data related to diplomacy and trade.

Analysts say the move is part of the South Korean government's efforts to proactively address concerns that important government data could be compromised when officials use AI-enabled applications.

Previously, on February 4, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of South Korea sent a dispatch to government agencies, urban and provincial governments, calling for caution when using AI services such as DeepSeek and ChatGPT.

In the business sector, on February 4, South Korean platform company Kakao also banned the use of DeepSeek for business purposes, becoming the first major Korean tech company to do so. On the morning of February 5, LG Uplus implemented a similar policy.

Other tech giants including Samsung Electronics, SK Group and LG Electronics have also banned such programs from company computers without permission as they all develop their own AI services.

Before South Korea, some advisers to the Indian Finance Ministry said the ministry had asked staff to avoid using AI tools including ChatGPT from US company OpenAI and DeepSeek for official purposes to secure government documents and data.

Australia and Italy have also placed similar restrictions on the use of DeepSeek, citing data security risks.